Football Manager 2008 (Xbox 360)

Football manager has always been a great game for those football fans wanting to take control of their favourite teams and live the lives of people such as Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho. The game was released each year as a game for the Pc against its rival Championship manger. I have played older versions of this game on the PC, but had never actually played a version on the xbox and so thought well why not as the xbox is so powerful it must be able to cope with this game. My gamble paid off and it has certainly been worth it as well as having all the features and depth of the PC, it also has further benefits with xbox live also playing a part in the game.

This game was created by Sports Interactive and was released for sale on the 360 in march 2008. It is agreat game with over 5,000 teams to choose from and you get to compete in over 50 different countries in leagues, tournaments and other competitions.
You act as the manager of your chosen team and have the ability to control absolutely everything in your team from transfers to training to your other employees such as scouts.

The latest version has been greatly updated and changed from previous versions of the game. There is a whole new transfer centre where you can control all you bids, accepted or rejected and any players in or out on loan. There is also much more information about club finances from sponsorship to investment to ticket sales and match day income. Find out where every penny your club earns comes from. There has been an improvement in the media in the game with you learning about international news as well as having better international scouts, etc. You can also find out about how confident the board is in your performance at the club and whether or not they are near to firing you.

I personally really enjoy all types of football games and sometimes prefer managing fro a change rather than playing. This is a perfect football game to get for the xbox 360 in which it is rather simple and easy to get to grips with and loads at a quick pace as well as having very much improved game play so that matches are much smoother and you can change a lot of speed and visibility settings.
My only problem is that it can be sometimes harder than using a PC for example when searching for a particular player and typing in the name - this can be rather tedious on the 360 compared to the ease of use with the PC. However, to make up for this there are some great extra features on the 360 version, for example being able to use xbox live.
Over xbox live you can have 1 on 1 single matches with your friends using your team and your great management skills you will have hopefully learnt from the game. You can also host tournaments over xbox live and compete with managers across the world and prove your skills at being a world class manager or are you just a flop at this managing stuff?

This game is great for any football fan who may get a bit bored of playing the same old fifa or Pro Evo and fancy a change by actually making all those crucial decisions involved in a team. I would say that this is far more of a challenge being a manger than playing the usual football games where you can score about 10 goals in a game.
Suitable for anyone - just may take a little while to get the hang of - although it is very well set out and has good menus, with nice graphics, and an easy navigation system.

Price: £17.99 from play.com

A very reasonable price for a game only a few months old and one which can last for quite a while, especially if you take your team through several seasons!

Thanks for reading.